Tony Harber

It was third time lucky for Neil Redfearn on Saturday as he was able to go into the next international break with a win to savour as head coach of Leeds United.

After a defeat and an unlucky draw in his first two games in charge Redfearn saw his team blow Blackpool away with a terrific first half display and although the second period was not so impressive the Whites saw out a morale-boosting 3-1 victory.

The recently appointed boss now expects many more good days to come with a crop of youngsters he likened to Manchester United’s class of 92 and believes can take Leeds to the next level.

In the short term, Redfearn is also pleased to have some time to work with the players now ahead of their next game, away at Blackburn, on Saturday week.

He plans to give the players a few days rest before they report back in for some hard work on the training ground designed to get the side climbing the Sky Bet Championship table from their current 15th place.

The season can still go anywhere with United only eight points off a play-off place and just four points above the bottom three.

But long term Redfearn is confident Leeds have a bright future with a bunch of exciting home developed youngsters, three of who are now becoming mainstays of the current first team.

Sam Byram, Alex Mowatt and Lewis Cook all impressed against Blackpool while another, Chris Dawson, was on the bench and there could be more talented teenagers to come according to the man who has been overseeing their development as head of the academy before taking on the top job.

Redfearn said: “These young players are really coming to prominence. It’s unusual to get so many coming thought at once.

“The Manchester United side with the Nevilles and all them, perhaps they’re going to have an impact like that. They’re a big influence and I look at them as mainstays in our side.

“They’re young guys and I don’t want to put too much pressure on them, but they’re the glue in this side.

“It’s been said before that if you’re good enough you’re old enough and they look more than old enough. They’re coming good at the right time.

“The exciting thing for me is that I’ve been with some of these lads since they were in the under 16s. I’ve seen the potential and they’ve convinced me that they’re good enough.”

Redfearn was obviously pleased with the win over Blackpool and agrees there has been a progression in the three games he has been in charge, but reckons more improvement can be found through work on the training ground.

He added: “It’s important that we put things in place now. The break is a great opportunity for us to go and bed things down.

“We’ve turned it round. We started with a defeat, then we got a point and now we’ve got a win and we want to kick on now.

“So the next few days are going to be really important for us. They’ll get their chance to rest, but they’re going to work as well.”